Posted on 04/02/2009 3:36:22 PM PDT by mojito
Raymond P. Martinez (Chief of Protocol):
Good afternoon everyone. Thank you very much for having me on “Ask the White House.” I look forward to talking with you today about the Office of the Chief of Protocol and what our role is for the President. We are responsible for many activities including the planning, hosting, and officiating of ceremonial events for visiting chiefs of state and heads of government, as well as coordinating logistics for the visits. We also manage Blair House, the President's guesthouse, and oversee all protocol matters for Presidential, Vice Presidential and Presidential delegation trips abroad. As you know, The President and Mrs. Bush welcomed Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for a State Visit yesterday at the White House....
Tyrone, from Florida writes:
Hon. Mr. Martinez, Thank your for taking our questions. Her Majesty, Elizabeth II...is such a grand woman. I am glad that she was able to make the trip to the "colonies." I would like to know what official gift was presented to her by the President and what gift she present to the President and the American people on behalf of her many subjects?
Raymond P. Martinez:
Tyrone, the principals conducted a leader to leader gift exchange in the Red Room of the White House immediately after the arrival ceremony. President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette “High Desert Princess” with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.
President and Mrs. Bush gave The Prince Philip an exclusive sterling silver eagle box by Tiffany & Co. with personal inscription on the inside lid.
President and Mrs. Bush gave Their Majesties a leather presentation box filled with a collection of documents from the National Archives. One of the items was a copy of an original letter from President Roosevelt to her father, King George, written in 1938. There were also photos from previous royal visits and a DVD of the footage from the Queen’s visit to the United States when she was Princess Elizabeth in 1951.
Their Majesties gave President Bush a sterling silver oversized plate by William & Son with gold seals including: the Presidential seal, the Royal seal and a center seal with the star of Texas surrounded by roses. There was a personal inscription on the back of the plate. They gave Mrs. Bush a gold and crystal clock with the Royal seal by William & Son.
The Office of the Chief of Protocol assists the President and First Lady in the selection and presentation of gifts to foreign leaders.
Did they give the Queen an I-Pod charger as well? If she doesn’t have a way to recharge it, then after a few hours of play, it will be useless, even if she does enjoy listening to it.
I read somewhere that she loved the gifts because her IPOD didn’t have video and one of her favorite composers/singers/or whatever is the guy’s songbook.
Thank you!
'loaded' or empty ???
I could decide whether to cringe or laugh!! That was a great pic! LOL~
LOL I think I read something about him being an abuser, correct?
Friend of mine said, "As a rule of thumb, don't get the Queen of England a gift that can be purchased at Wal-Mart..."
Good advice...
LMFAO!!!
Don’t cry.
“Good catch StarFan.
You are correct, they are quick to point out that the photograph of the Queen is typical and is the only thing anyone ever should expect from the Queen of England accepting a Head of State. Which even reading it sounded hokey to me. Really? The Queen of England gives out something a rockstar would give after a gig in a strip club. Come on!”
The Queen is no dummy. She saw the gift the Obama’s gave the Prime Minister on his visit here. She was all ready for them with the picture in the frame. After reading here about the gifts exchanged with the Bush’s, the MSM can’t cover for the Obamas and claim they got the “standard” gift.
You should see the new COP. It would all make sense.
The thing the Obama’s are too stupid to understand is that Gordon Brown REPRESENTED Queen Elizabeth. Yes, we know she doesn’t rule Britain, but she is still the monarch and by treating her Prime Minister in such a way, they were indirectly treating HER in such a way.
I still don’t know how those two managed to make it to the White House. My uneducated hillbilly husband and I could manage better at manners than those two. And even if they don’t know, a good LEADER would be sure to hire people who did know.
Have you SEEN Camille Parker Bowelmovement?
The signed sheet music would have been more meaningful without the IPod, something anyone of her staff could run down to Knights Bridge and pick up. Adding his speeches is really the tackiest touch I can think of.
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